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Monday, June 8, 2009

Applique Assistance

Here is the start of the Grandmother's Bouquet. When I read the block size was 12x9 I thought it would be an OK size. Wow! Some of these pieces are really small. I put the spool of thread in there for you to see the size. The little piece to the right is about the size of a penny. Too bad it isn't round like a penny!I'm looking for suggestions on appliqueing these tiny pieces. Even the leaves were pretty small and I had to take tiny tiny stitches.One thought I had was to use fusible webbing and machine applique with a tiny zig zag with clear thread. I'm just not sure I'm capable of doing good hand applique with those size pieces. My hands felt huge and clumsy!All suggestions are welcome!!!

5 comments:

I don't know about machine applique, but would think it would be easier to handle, seeing the pieces are fused down. I love to hand applique and have stitched down a few tiny, tiny pieces along the way. I was surprised it was possible! Two tips for you: Keep the seam allowance as narrow as possible and before stitching (if you are doing needleturn) finger press the seams under before you start to stitch.

I tend to stay away from applique with tiny pieces. Some of the ladies in my sewing group took an applique class that dealt with working with tiny, tiny pieces. They worked from the top down on a layered butterfly. The whole butterfly was created before it was attached to the background. The lower piece in each layer stayed larger than needed until it was time to applique it to a lower layer. I have never tried it.Maybe the back basting method would work on the project. I have not tried it but know of others that have. Are you familiar with the method?

If you use a vinyl overlay to place your pieces, you could always use the cutaway technique. You leave the piece big enough to handle and only cut the s.a a bit ahead of your stiching. Mark around the piece and then remove the freezer paper first. Keep the seams amall. Sometimes starching the fabric before you start helps.

Have you tried the "starchy method"? I've been quilting a long time and by far this is the easiest method to do accurate applique on any size. While it may take time to prepare, it takes all the frustrations out of needle-turn and you whip up the applique in no time. Let me know it you want more info.Terry in So. California

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